A recently-patched bug in the widely-used
sudo command makes for interesting reading.
The patch reminds us of some important points in security-related programming.
The UNIX
sudo command is usually translated to mean "
do as
superuser" - in other words, it lets you run administrative commands one at a time, without logging in as the superuser (
root, in UNIX parlance).
More accurately, sudo stands for "
substitute user identity and
do", so that you can use it to take on an identity other than root, such as a backup user or a database administrator.
